The readers' votes have been tabulated, and it's official: The power surges of the past two years are definitely indicative of a changing of the guard in many areas. In categories as diverse as Favorite Restaurant, Best Decor, Best Salad and Dressing, Best Taco, and Best Brunch, poll voters have revealed the solid popularity of a new generation of winners. Once again, the biggest winner overall is Uchi, which has taken the top spot in Favorite Restaurant, Decor, Chef, Service, Sushi, and Japanese. Campus-area phenom Coco's Cafe continues to demonstrate its popularity with three first-place wins and some honorable mentions. Vespaio looks strong with the No. 2 spot among Favorites, a win in Italian, and a tie with Chez Zee for Desserts. After a tie with longtime winner Fonda San Miguel last year, the Moonshine Patio Bar & Grill took over Best Brunch, and Baby Greens now appears to own Best Salads and Dressing. We observed strong showings by the new location of Mars Restaurant and Bar as well as impressive numbers of votes for newcomers Bess Bistro on Pecan, the Woodland, and the Belmont, which would seem to indicate they could have some staying power. The remodeled Oasis literally rose from the ashes for a tie in Best Place to Take Parents, and the hungry local vegetarian community voted Mother's Cafe and Garden as the Place We Wish Was Still Open.

Once Special Issues Editor Kate X Messer with assistant Richard Whittaker and interns Meredith Barnhill, Andy Denhem, Meredith Greenwood, and Meghan Ruth Speakerman vetted the readers' results, our panel of critics – Claudia Alarcón, Barbara Chisholm, Wes Marshall, MM Pack, Kate Thornberry, Mick Vann, and myself – met to consider the readers' choices and discuss the best dishes, drinks, people, and places we have personally encountered over the past year. As always, we bring very different tastes and experiences to the table, and we encourage folks who voted, as well as all of our other readers, to sample from both lists in the coming year. – Virginia B. Wood